Have you hear the news? The Electric Quilt Company is celebrating 30 years of business! It is hard to believe that another five years have gone by. It seems like just yesterday the new EQ8 version came out. What is EQ8 and the Electric Quilt Company? The EQ Company produces the leading quilt design software (EQ8) which I use just about daily in my own designs. It doesn't write the patterns for you, but it takes out all of the math guess work, cutting and dimensions are easily adapted from line drawings in the program. It even prints out templates and foundation papers. I haven't found a limitation yet to the software. It is extremely powerful with a lot of thought put into the programming and needs of quilt designers. If you are computer software savvy, it definitely makes pattern design and writing easier.
As part of the big celebration, the company has teamed up with 30 avid EQ8 users and quilt designers to share in the fun with their own "pearls of wisdom" about the software. Each week another designer will be highlighted with an interview and a giveaway - especially an EQ8 project giveaway! How cool is that? You can download the project, color (re-color or map to color/fabrics) as you wish, print templates/cutting charts and make your very own quilt (in any size)! How cool is that?!
I am very honored and humbled to be a guest participant in the big 30th anniversary celebration! Go check it out on their website to see my favorite pearls as well as other pearls from other designers.
My gift to EQ and to all of their users is a Fancy Color Wheel Quilt - what every quilter needs in
their sewing space.
The Fancy Color Wheel Quilt is based on a painter’s color wheel for you to sew yourself. There are two slightly different designs for you to try, one being a mini quilt (12” center block) and other a midi quilt (20” center block). There is a fancy design with triangles below and a simplified version without triangles. The patterns are made of templates (use up an empty cereal box) and is for an advanced skill level. The pattern uses a total of 51 different fabrics.
Are you familiar with the color wheel?
The color wheel is built with the primary colors forming a triangle in the center (red, yellow and blue). Turn the triangle 60° and you have the secondary colors – adjacent primary colors mixed with each other. Venturing outwards one additional ring, you will find gradients of the primary and secondary colors. The next ring shows triangles in black and white pointing to the shades and tints respectively. Sandwiched in between are the tones (main color with gray added) while the outer most ring uses a range of tints (main color mixed with white) and shades (main color mixed with black). I used the special functions of EQ8 to add tints, shades and tones more commonly known as the color value.
Color is a fascinating and powerful too that influences our perception, emotions and even our consumer behaviours. In the quilting world, we can use color to express a mood, accentuate a piece of a design, or even subdue portions. To achieve this, we must first understand the color wheel, how it is built and how colors interact with each other.
Color Wheel Made with Solids from Doris K.
A painter's wheel is what
quilter's are most drawn to in their designs. It is a mixture of color through
paint or a so-called RBY color wheel. Be careful, because there is more than
one type of color wheel.
Color Wheel Made with Printed Scraps by Karen Ackva
The color wheel is also divided into warm colors (red, yellow, and orange) which generate life, warmth, engery and positive emotions. Think sunrise and summertime. Cold colors convey security, relaxations, and stability. Think cool water and crisp snow. Individual colors can express their own emotions.
In no way, shape or form am I an expert on color. Please refer to these publications for more in-depth look at color theory and everything else you would like to know.
Barnes, Christine. COLOR: The Quilter's Guide. Washington, USA: That Patchwork Place Inc. 1997
Wagner, Lauren. Palette Perfect. Barcelona, Spain: Hoaki Boos, S.L., 2018. Color Combinations Inspired by Fashion, Art & Style
As we already know, EQ8 is wonderful for printing templates, foundation patterns, calculating fabric yardage and giving us the correct patches. What it cannot do is write the pattern. If you are looking to create the pattern and prefer written instructions on how to, you can purchase the pattern on Etsy in my easypatchworkSHOP.
Patterns includes seven pages DIN A4 page size and includes:
- Material requirements
- Cutting instructions
- Full-size templates
- Block construction
- Patch placement for all fabrics
- Additional instructions for reverse appliqué of center circle as a second option
Enjoy an extra 30% off today only. No code necessary.
Would you like to make the pattern but are uncertain if you may have all of those pretty rainbow fabrics in your stash or scrap bins? You can always change up the colors and create your own interesting color wheel. Take a look at these ideas below. Recalculate the fabric yardage with the EQ8 Project file for any of the combinations below.
If you just love to sew curves, you can even sew an entire quilt with these XXL 20" blocks.
Thanks for dropping by today to read about the EQ "Pearls of Wisdom" and the Fancy Color Wheel Quilt Project giveway you can find on their website. Let's celebrate their success together. Happy 30th Anniversary, Electric Quilt Company! You rock!
